The BEST episodes of Knots Landing
Every episode of Knots Landing ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Knots Landing!
Hoping to ride the crest of its success with Dallas, CBS spun off this series featuring the black sheep of the Ewing Family, Gary Ewing. Gary was a weakened reformed alcoholic who had deserted his wife Valene Ewing, and then remarried her and moved to Southern California to escape the formidable nature of life with the Ewings in Dallas. All the equals in this series lived on the same cul-de-sac in the quiet little community of Knots Landing. In addition to being neighbors, their lives intertwined in other ways. Gary worked for Sid Fairgate, owner of Knots Landing Motors, the local classic car dealership. Sid and his wife Karen Fairgate had three teenage children: Eric Fairgate, Michael Fairgate, and Diana Fairgate. The other two couples on the cul-de-sac were young recording executive Kenny Ward and his attractive wife, Ginger, and Richard and Laura Avery.
#1 - Call Me Dimitri
Season 12 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/21/1991
Mac is out of jail, and Jason's returned to his father, who promises to be nice but continues to be as abusive as ever. Jason leaves and his dad follows. Nick tells Anne he was traveling with a rich woman named Betty, and she was supposed to pick something up from her relatives. Anne pretends to be Betty, and the relatives give her a doll. Kate learns Steve is her brother. Linda blows off Michael to flirt with Greg. Val overhears Gary trying to have her committed, and leaves.
#2 - The Fan Club
Season 11 - Episode 28 - Aired 5/10/1990
Paige asks Mac to help Tom find out who is setting him up. Mac refuses, so she asks Greg to say he gave Tom the money, but he won't. Linda tells Michael that Eric hit and abused her. He feels bad for her, and they go out. Wayne is arrested for stalking Karen, but he denies it. While he's in jail, someone puts a cow's heart in a box with a note that says "you have a black heart". The doctor tells Frank that Pat is brain dead, and it's time to pull the plug. Danny finds out and goes to Frank's, saying if he pulls the plug, then Frank has killed Pat, not him. Julie didn't know about this and screams she's going to get a lawyer. Frank punches Danny, and Mac comes over to break it up. Frank has a talk with Julie. The next day, Danny comes home and Julie points Danny's rifle at him, saying that he is going to die before Pat does.
#3 - What If?
Season 12 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/25/1990
The police soon realize that everyone had a motive for killing Danny, but Frank is the only one without an alibi. Karen is depressed over her attack and is afraid to leave the house. Val and Gary ask Mac and Karen to be in their wedding. Paige doesn't go to work and tries to get a new job, but isn't offered any. Linda uses Paige's absence to try to ingratiate herself to Greg. Linda's upset when she hears Greg call Paige and offer her a big promotion and raise. Kate and Greg have a nice talk, and she tells him he and Claudia are exactly alike. Anne calls her ex-lover, Marco Conti, who is rich and married, and tells him they're being blackmailed. It's actually Anne who's doing the blackmailing. Marco says he'll take care of it, and sends Nick Schillace to Knots Landing.
#4 - You Can Call Me Nick
Season 12 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/1/1990
Nick suspects Anne of the blackmailing, and says that he is going to stay with her and go wherever she goes. Anne's upset that Marco only sent $20,000 for the blackmailer. Paige is angry that everyone at the office thinks she got the promotion for sleeping with Greg. She asks Greg why he treats her like dirt. He asks Paige to marry him, but she walks out. Greg is really starting to get sick. Karen goes back to work. Diane says Karen is an egomaniac, and that she got a new job and can't wait to leave. Police find a button by the pool where Danny was killed. Ginny decides to leave. Gary tells Val that his dreams have all come true and that he can't wait to marry her. They go on a family picnic, and the twins run to Gary yelling that something has happened to Val.
#5 - Do not Attempt to Remove
Season 12 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/8/1990
Greg gets really sick and Carlos tries to call Paige. Tom and Paige fight about her working for Greg, and she leaves. Nick makes her sleep on the sofa. Tom goes to see her at the office and tells her she's a brat and a bitch. He sees Greg and punches him. Julie has skipped school since the day Danny died, and the police think she saw something. Anne tells Nick the blackmailers called. They're to drop the money at a department store. Anne drops alarm tags into a lot of shopping bags, so all the alarms go off. Anne grabs the money and runs. Nick apologizes to Anne for suspecting her and is worried about what Marcos will do to him for losing the money. Val fell on her head, but insists she is okay. She starts acting strangely, but Gary thinks it is pre-wedding jitters.
#6 - The Best Laid Plans
Season 12 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/15/1990
Paige tells Mac she never loved Tom the way she loves Greg. Anne and Nick sleep together. She tells Nick that the blackmailers have called for the rest of the money and she's to meet them alone. Nick switches the briefcase with money to one with a bomb in it. Michael gives Linda an engagement ring. Julie tells the police that Danny showed up drunk when she was swimming. He slapped her and said he was going to have her arrested for trying to shoot him. Julie said she ran to the house with Danny following, and his fingers were broken as she tried to shut the sliding glass door. In pain, he staggered around and fell into the pool and drowned. The police rule Danny's death an accident. Val freaks out when Gary sees her trying on her wedding dress, and accuses him of lying to her when she shows up for the rehearsal dinner on the wrong night. She calls off the wedding.
#7 - Side by Side
Season 12 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/29/1990
Gary tells Karen he's backing off from Val, the "queen of her own drama". Greg collapses and Paige waits with him at the hospital. Claudia tells the doctor that Greg only wants family to visit, and lies to Greg that Paige and Carlos aren't there. Claudia's mad when she finds out that Greg is leaving the ranch to Carlos and everything else to Meg. Julie's friend Jason mouths off to Frank. Nick finds the $20,000 Anne stole, and admits there is a bomb in the briefcase he gave her. Anne has hidden it at Paige's office, but Linda has taken it. Linda seduces Harvey to get him some of Paige's reports, and then accuses him of leading her on. Finding out the briefcase is Anne's, she puts it back, and tells Paige. Anne has called a bomb threat into Sumner group. Paige takes the briefcase home. Anne and Nick decide to split the million, but don't know which briefcase has the money and which has the bomb.
#8 - The Unknown
Season 12 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/3/1991
Paige dreams she meets herself as an older woman, and is miserable because she married Greg. Greg moves his sickbed to the office. He tells Paige he had a vasectomy and wants her to sign a pre-nuptial agreement, so she calls off the wedding. Mac discovers Jason was sent home because he refused to testify against his dad. Mac and Frank go to a poetry reading at Julie's school. Jason is there, and he's sad his father didn't show up, but he's glad to see Mac. Later Jason shows up at the MacKenzie's. Anne decides to set her sites on Gary. Val goes to see the doctor, but thinks Gary paid him to say she has temporary brain damage in a plot to get the twins. Val replaces her pills with aspirin. She moves to the ranch since Gary won't let her take the twins. She gets in bed with Gary and starts to kiss him. He doesn't think it's a good idea and she goes off on him.
#9 - Simmer
Season 12 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/10/1991
Mac lets Jason spend the night, but says that's not a solution. Dick Lochner tells Mac that Jason's lying, and Mac goes off on him. The next night Jason sleeps in the park. Julie's teacher Charlotte calls Frank to go to an art exhibit. Not sure if it's a date, he brings Peggy. Then Charlotte asks him out for a real date. Linda is really snide to Paige. In a meeting, Linda gives a suggestion that Greg really likes. Paige is fed up with her and complains about Linda to Greg. Karen offers to "babysit" Val. Gary goes to the gym, and is happy to "run into" Anne. Karen pays for a pizza with Val's money, and finds her pills at the bottom of her purse. Karen shows them to Gary.
#10 - Always on Your Side
Season 12 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/7/1991
Mac and Karen go to court and ask to be Jason's foster parents, but the judge decides he should stay with his dad. Mac speeds off with Jason. He hides him in Val's house, but refuses to tell anyone where he is, so he's arrested. Frank and Charlotte go on a date. The doctor tells Gary that Val isn't responding to medication, but might get better on her own. Mrs. Richfield's niece Susie is hired at Sumner Group and does a terrible job. Susie puts through an account Linda was secretly trying to get to Paige, who then takes over the account. Steve asks Kate a lot of questions about her father and Claudia. He accidentally dings Paige's car, and Paige is furious with him and demands he fix it. Steve has a parole officer who says he needs to get a job and stay out of trouble, or he'll put him back in prison.
#11 - In the Dog House
Season 12 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/14/1991
Claudia tells Paige about Anne's fake marriage to get her trust fund. Anne goes to the ranch to get a puppy, and is bored when Gary goes on and on about Val. Paige kicks Anne out. Nick finds Anne. He calls her Betty, and tells her to call him Dimitri. Steve tells Claudia he is her son and wants to know why she gave him away. She throws him out. Mack is jailed for hiding Jason, so Gary agrees to help. Val comes home as Gary is there to get Jason, and thinks Gary is hiding a woman there. Val questions the twins, who tell her about Anne. Jason's uncles go to the MacKenzie's where Paige is babysitting. They demand to know where Jason is. One uncle punches Paige, so Jason runs out of Val's to help her. His uncles force Jason into their truck and speed off.
#12 - Inside Information
Season 6 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/17/1985
Mac shows a tape of the Tidal Basin murders to Lila Maxwell's roommate who recognizes Scott Easton and tells Mac he worked for Galveston Ind. Then Karen recognizes one of the men as John Woodside, one of Galveston's aides. Greg tells Laura that his father, Sumner, died as a pilot in the Korean war. Then Galveston showed up at his house, and Greg discovered that his mother and Galveston had been having an affair for years. Then Galveston told Greg that he was really his father. Abby flies to Shula and asks Val to level with her about if she is going to come home. Val doesn't recognize her and thinks that Abby is crazy. Parker overhears and researches Val in the library, and knows that she is really Valene Ewing. Parker asks Val to marry him, and she says yes. Gary tells Abby that Galveston called and said he needed to tell him something about her so Abby tells him that she found Val. Gary catches the first flight to Tennessee.
#13 - Bad Dog
Season 12 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/28/1991
Jason is unconscious in the hospital, and his dad is put in jail. Mac stays with him. Linda sleeps with Greg and breaks off her engagement to Michael. Claudia refuses to tell Steve or Kate who Steve's father is. Anne and Nick try to find out if the doll is worth something or if something's hidden in it. The dog rips the doll apart. Val comes by and yells at Anne to stay away from Gary. Seeing the dog, she takes it. Then a man breaks in and demands a vial that was hidden in the doll. Paige comes in with security to kick Anne and Nick out, and the man is arrested. Anne and Nick determine that the dog ate the vial, so they break into Gary's barn, but all the puppies look alike.
#14 - Gone Microfiching
Season 12 - Episode 20 - Aired 3/7/1991
Val decides to go back to the hospital for further testing. Anne and Nick finally locate the capsule, and it has a microfiche map in it. Two different parties want it, so they make a copy and sell it to both, for a total of $550,000. They rent Tom's apartment. Charlotte tells Frank she doesn't want a serious relationship with him, so he goes on a series of disastrous dates. Claudia makes up a story about who Steve's father is, but he doesn't buy it. Linda jumps the gun on a project of Paige's, and Greg reams her out but she decides to still sleep with him. Mac finds out he will be disbarred for hiding Jason. Jason moves into the MacKenzies, and tries to be really perfect and helpful. Mac tells him to just relax and he himself.
#15 - Upwardly Mobile
Season 12 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/28/1991
Jason is to have a goodbye dinner with his dad, but his father doesn't show up. Finding out their money is counterfeit, Anne and Nick decide to get real jobs, but both are inept and are fired on their first day. Anne decides to blackmail Claudia because she knows who Steve's father is. Kate is shocked to learn Steve was in prison. Kate asks Greg to hire Steve. Mort assigns Steve to be Paige's assistant. She's furious, and has hated him ever since he dinged her car. Greg and Steve meet and immediately argue, but Greg likes him. Paige and Steve get stuck in an elevator for several hours and they argue. When they're finally freed, Paige goes into Greg's office, only to find him with Linda.
#16 - Lost at Sea
Season 13 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/12/1991
Mac advises Gary not to mortgage the ranch, and Val's upset that Gary doesn't know when to cut his losses, and Gary's mad that no one believes in him. Frank misses Debbie. The radio station throws a party for Anne, and she makes them invite Benny. Benny falls down the stairs and pretends he can't move and says he will sue them. Greg tells Paige that 10 years ago Pierce took his pregnant girlfriend sailing and she drowned, but the rumor is that he killed her. Pierce disappears. His car is found at the beach, and Paige is really worried about him. Pierce comes home and tells Paige about the boat accident, and not being able to save his girlfriend. He says Victoria put him back together, but wouldn't let go when he didn't need her anymore, and that he had no reason to live until he met Paige.
#17 - Holiday on Ice
Season 13 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/19/1991
The bank hesitates to loan Gary money because of Pierce's past. Gary yells at him for not telling him. Greg has a renewed interest in Meg, and Mac and Karen are worried. The Ewings spend Christmas with the MacKenzies, and Val tells Karen she misses living in the cul-de-sac. The power goes out, so they play football and sing carols. Claudia and Kate go to Greg's for Christmas. Greg asks Joseph if he can support Kate, and Joseph is offended. Jason leaves for Sweden on Christmas day. Pierce sees a robe that Anne gave Paige, and is enraged thinking it's from Greg. Paige says it isn't, and he tears through her clothes to see what Greg gave her. She tells Pierce to get out.
#18 - And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
Season 13 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/2/1992
Mac and Karen decide to let Greg be in Meg's life, but to wait awhile before telling her she's adopted. Victoria tells Mac that Pierce killed his last girlfriend and gives Gary numbers to Pierce's former business partners. Gary calls and only gets bad reports. Val is worried that the stress will cause Gary to drink, and he considers it, but goes to an AA meeting. Claudia has Greg get Joseph a job in Massachusetts. Joseph discovers a major flaw in his design, and realizes he'll have to start over from scratch. He refuses to tell Gary, and Kate is angry. Joseph gets the job offer, but doesn't tell Kate. Alex, Rosa's nephew, shows up at Claudia's. He says he knows her secret and will be staying with her for awhile. He comes on to her. Pierce becomes enraged that Joseph spent Christmas at Greg's and accuses him of giving Greg information. Pierce tries to choke Joseph, but Paige interrupts and stops Pierce.
#19 - The Torrents of Winter
Season 13 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/9/1992
Joseph quits and Gary is furious and punches him out. Gary has to suspend operations, but Val comforts him and says they still have each other. Joseph asks Kate to go with him, but she wants nothing to do with him. Claudia asks Greg why he got him a job in La Jolla instead of MA, and Greg says he wanted to ruin the company, but didn't want Kate losing her boyfriend. Greg buys a date with Anne at a charity auction. Frank sends Julie back east to live with relatives. Alex goes through Claudia's bank book and breaks her artifacts. Claudia cooks him dinner and implies the salad dressing is poisoned. Pierce blames Greg for the loss of the company and his breakup with Paige, and tells Greg he will destroy him. Pierce comes up to Paige at the Tidal Energy Ocean Site, and holds her over the rushing water, but she gets away.
#20 - Fair Warning
Season 13 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/16/1992
Pierce makes charts about Greg, and decides that his first "line" to him will be Claudia. Greg offers Paige her job back. Greg and Anne go on a date. Karen's boss wants her to do a show about Gary losing his money, so she quits. Alex throws a party for Claudia where he gives her a portrait of her mother, Ruth Sumner Galveston. After the party Alex tells Claudia that he was there when Ruth tried to reach for her medication, but the bottle broke, and instead of helping her, Claudia just stood there and let her die. He says he has the cancelled checks that Claudia sent Rosa every month to keep her quiet. Gary is really hurting as the ranch is auctioned off. The Ewings move back to the cul-de-sac.
#21 - Living Dangerously
Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 5/6/1982
Richard tries to get his job back, and they call Laura to bring him home. While there, she sees a suicide note in the garbage, and decides to move back in. Val's publisher changes the name of her book to "Capricorn Crude", and hires Joe to be the editor. Val asks Gary to go to her publishing party, but he says no because he's mad about the book. At lunch, Karen and Lilimae see Abby and Gary coming out of an apartment together. Lilimae tells Gary she saw this and will tell Val if he won't go with her to the party. Gary agrees to go to the party, but that night he's at the apartment with Abby, who won't let him leave. At the party, Val's very upset about Gary not showing up. Karen leaves and Val sees her and follows. Karen goes to the apartment and bangs on the door until Gary and Abby finally let her in. The door is open and Val walks in and sees what's going on. She takes off for home where she packs. Gary has followed, but she won't let him in. As she gets back into her car, Gary trie
#22 - My First Born
Season 11 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/18/1990
The DA says he'll look into the pension fund. Mac discovers that Greg owns Oakman Industries. Greg gives a press conference saying he fired Oakman and will restore the pension fund. Olivia makes a profit. Karen talks to her and explains that Harold is under a lot of pressure to provide for her, and she decides to give him another chance. Harold loses even more of Michael's money in a poker game. Michael asks for the money back, because he needs it for a condo he's buying. Mary Francis comes to see Greg. She was working in a third world country, but came back to the states to research bio-genetics. Greg is really happy to see her and they spend time together. Mary Francis goes to Greg's office. He steps out to speak to his secretary when they hear a shot. Mary Francis has been shot in the head!
#23 - If I Die Before I Wake
Season 11 - Episode 27 - Aired 5/3/1990
Danny serves Gary with a restraining order, so Gary starts following him around and hires detectives to follow Danny when he can't. Tom and his partner are being investigated. Tom checks his bank balance and is shocked to find $103,000.Anne tells her accountant that she didn't tell Paige about the trust fund she'll get when she's married. The accountant tells her he'll send the money when he receives the marriage certificate. Jeff tells Karen that if she quits, Dianne will replace her as the host. Karen receives flowers that have snakes in them. Terrified, she calls Wayne to come over and stay with her. Mac questions everyone at the station. Since Wayne isn't there, he goes to his apartment, where the landlady is doing some repairs. He sees Wayne's "monument" to Karen.
#24 - The Long and Winding Road
Season 6 - Episode 30 - Aired 5/23/1985
Greg keeps trying to call Laura, who hangs up on him. He follows her and explains that it was a stunt Ruth set up, so he kicked her out. Greg asks Laura to marry him, but she says she's already married. The police question Karen about Ackerman, while Mac goes to his office and finds Val's file. He sets the alarm off, and is arrested. After Mac is out, they find a list in the file that has the name couples who illegally adopted babies, but there are no addresses on the list. One name on the list - Harry Fisher - rings a bell. The next day at work Karen tells Gary the babies are alive. Mac remembers that he and Ben were at the Fisher's house, and they had twins. Mac calls Karen and tells her to meet him there. Gary goes with her. Harry Fisher rushes home and tells his wife Sheila to pack, that they have to leave on a vacation now. Sheila says she won't leave because she hasn't picked up the prescription for the twin's ear infections. Frustrated, Harry takes one of the twins and goes to p
#25 - Mixed Messages
Season 11 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/9/1989
Ginny's off the hook when the money is found in Baylor's apartment. Baylor asks Mac to defend him, and says Oakman is setting him up because they don't want their books made public. Going through Jeri's jewelry, Ginny finds the money. Greg gives Paige his biggest client - the Richfield account. Paige meets Tom Ryan. Greg brings Paula to a company party, but Paula accuses him of using her to make Paige jealous. Paige sees Tom at the party, and they flirt and make love in the elevator. Michael doesn't have a date, so Linda offers to go with him, and they pretend she is "Theresa". Later they realize they are very attracted to one another. Danny's upset as Amanda gets ready for a date with Gary. Gary asks Amanda to go away for a weekend, but not to tell Danny.